Responsibilities
by Munch's Muses
Summary: Postep for Uncle. “Andy Munch, CIA,” he said, flashing credentials, “I’m looking for my cousin Johnny. He’s got some explaining to do.”
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Post-ep for Uncle. This is a round robin, meaning that more than one author has written it. This particular section is written by Animaltalker and Cardinal Robbins here on Sarah Zelman belongs to an AU created by Cardinal Robbins (which can be found here as November Rain). We hope you enjoy this story, has it has taken a while to get it not only written, but fully edited. Comments very much appreciated.

Disclaimer: SVU is not ours. Zelman belongs to Cardinal Robbins.

* * *

"Where the hell is he?" a man bellowed as he stormed into the SVU bullpen.

Stabler quickly assessed the man; 6 foot, fit, late fifties, balding salt and pepper hair and an air of confidence. "Who are you and who are you looking for?"

"Andy Munch, CIA," he said, flashing credentials, "I'm looking for my cousin Johnny. He's got some explaining to do." Sarah Zelman raised her head, pen held in midair. _Andy_...

"Are you Andrew Munch's son?" Stabler asked curiously.

"Yeah, and I want Johnny to explain how he could let my Dad get in this mess."

"How could you? He's your father!" John yelled as he entered the bullpen. Sarah turned her chair, now watching as her partner stormed in.

"I have responsibilities."

"Yeah, like keeping the 5th commandment."

"Both of you, take it to an interrogation room now!" Sarah snapped, standing and moving away from her desk. She had never been able to decide whether to like Andy or not, and as he stood fuming before her, she tried not to let his anger cloud her judgement.

"No, we're going to settle this here and now!" John shouted. "Where in the hell were you when Andrew walked away from his home in Florida?" He started for his cousin and Stabler lunged as the two men almost came to blows. Elliot saw Sarah grab John by the shoulders as he threw his weight against Andy.

"Dammit! That's enough!" Sarah shouted. The entire bullpen fell silent. No one had heard her this angry before.

"Who do you think you are?" the younger Munch asked pointedly, shrugging hard out of Stabler's grasp.

John stared at Sarah, silent. She was about to go 'bad cop,' he could tell. _Andy, you have no idea what you've started,_ he thought, watching them both carefully.

"Right now, I'm NYPD to you," she asserted. "Some of us have work to do and it's a little easier doing it without you yelling at my partner." She could feel the raw anger welling within. "So shut the hell up -- and take it to a room."

John watched as she stared Andy down, forcing him to return to a measure of civility once more. She was about two inches from him, the six inches of height he had over her meant nothing as she dressed him down in front of everyone.

"Look... I'm sorry. I...just want to know about my Dad." He couldn't shake her gaze, but it calmed him rather than challenging him.

"C'mon, like I said before, we're going to settle this," John said, leading Andy to an interrogation room. "Sarah's coming with us, in case we need a mediator." She had brokered peace between him and Bernie when they'd squabbled; he knew she'd be needed for any discussion regarding his uncle's care.

Sarah and Andy glared icily at each other, before both grudgingly followed John.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This chapter is written by LSMunch and Cardinal Robbins.

* * *

They walked into the interrogation room and John moved towards the window. Pulling the chair out, he motioned for Andy to do the same, while Sarah stood in the corner. She was quiet and John wondered how long it would last.

Trying to remain calm, he looked at his cousin. "So, where were you when Andrew came up here?" Controlling his breathing, he tried to conduct himself as he would in a real interrogation.

"I was working," Andy spat.

"He's your father. You're in the CIA. Didn't you try to find out where he was?"

"He told me he was coming to visit you."

"For four months? I love my uncle, but you thought he was with me for that long?"

"What was I supposed to think?" Both men's tempers were quickly rising. "Tells me he's coming up here, fine. Not like he's a two-year old. For God's sake, the man's eighty-six and my father. I trusted his judgement, and yours, though I see I was wrong in placing trust in you."

"And you're his son! When I talked to him on his birthday, he mentioned nothing of coming to visit. If he had, I would have made the proper accommodations and arrangements. Picked him up at the airport, train station, whatever! You at least knew he was coming and I never received one call from you asking how he was. Nothing!"

Andy pointed his finger at John. "Like you, I have work-"

"You let your work get in the way of talking with your father?" John stood, his chair flying out behind him. "Some son he has."

Andy stood as well, somewhat more composed than his cousin. "Where is he now?"

"Psychiatric hospital."

"Why?"

"Pseudo dementia of depression. Won't take his meds."

"And you call me irresponsible? Under your care, I assume, after you picked him up and he's not taking his meds. That's just great, just great, Johnny."

"He has a constitutional right to decide whether or not to take his meds. I wasn't about to force them down his throat."

"Yeah, well, if it weren't for your father, mine wouldn't be screwed up, now would he?" Andy snarled.

John, who had been pacing, stopped and stared at the younger man. "What?"

"I said, if it weren't for your father, if you could call him that, my father would be fine," Andy ground out between clenched teeth.

John took the few steps to his cousin and punched him hard across the face. And again before Andy could regain any semblance of composure. Sarah, whom both men had forgotten, flew between them, but not before Andy landed a punch squarely across John's jaw. Deciding it would be easier to hold back John, Sarah pushed against him, backing him against the wall. He fought against her for a minute, and then relaxed. When she was sure he wouldn't move, she looked at his cousin, knowing now that her dislike of Andy had nothing to do with the CIA or the FBI. Knowing that her dislike of him was based on solid evidence.

"That was a low blow," she said.

"Whadda you know?" Andy asked angrily.

"Enough to know that no man has a right to take a shot like that, angry or not."

Andy shifted his gaze to his cousin. "Tell your _partner_ the family secret, huh? That's real nice, real nice, Johnny."

"If I were you, wouldn't be counting myself as much of any family," John replied, his voice low.

"Funny, 'cause I could say the same of you." Turning his back on Sarah and John, he walked to the door, flung it open and stormed out.

John watched, shocked, as Zelman flung the interrogation room open and took off after Andy. He knew he had to act and fast, but he was too late.

He saw her enter the bullpen at a clip, and then the world stalled to slow-motion.

"Hey! Andy the Ass," she called out, infuriated. "Leaving because you got your butt kicked by John?" She was so angry it didn't matter to her that the entire squad had come to a grinding halt. There was silence in the bullpen, punctuated only by Andy Munch's breathlessness from the fist fight.

Cragen was in his office, but he could hear everything through the speaker. He hung up the phone and paused to listen. Had Zelman just called someone an ass? Someone from the CIA?

Andy took a threatening step toward her and snarled, "This isn't any of your business, so stay the hell out of our family affairs!" He sized her up and figured she'd crumple if he hit her. He couldn't have been more wrong.

Fin scrutinized him carefully, but remained seated... for the moment. Munch's blood relative or not, if he raised a hand to hit Sarah, he was going down. Hard.

"Got news for you, Andy," Zelman said, spitting out his name like an epithet, "when you hit my partner, it becomes my business."

"Oh, really? Then maybe I should have decked you instead," he offered, closing the gap to within a couple inches of her face.

"Bring it on," Sarah dared him, taking her glasses off. "As low as you go, I'm sure it wouldn't bother you to fight with a woman."

"If there was one here," he snapped back.

John stepped forward, readier than ever for Round Two. He wasn't about to let Andy off the hook for that remark. "Sarah -- don't!" he yelled. "It's not worth it. He's not worth your time." John knew she wanted a piece of him, but so did he. But not in the bullpen -- not where there were witnesses to an assault on a CIA agent.

"I don't know, John," she said loudly, "maybe he needs his ass kicked a second time today. He's a very slow learner."

"Johnny, I don't know where you found this -- " Andy couldn't finish the sentence, because the wind left him as he went down to the floor, harder than he ever thought possible. He caught a glimpse of John on him and then he saw stars, as John's fist made full contact with his face.

John Munch saw Cragen out of the corner of his eye. Busted.

"Both of you -- stand down. Now!" the Captain commanded them. John froze. He slowly got up and straightened his suit. His knuckles ached relentlessly.

"Sorry, Cap," he apologized. "Andy, get the hell up."

The CIA agent reluctantly got up and brushed himself off, also straightening his suit coat as best he could manage.

Sarah motioned back toward the interrogation rooms and asked, "Are you leaving with your tail between your legs, or are you going to come settle the issue of your father's care?" This was so much worse than getting between John and Bernie. Andy was a prideful hot-head who only cared about himself and his career.

"Fine," he said flatly. "Looks like you're dragging me into this, whether I want to be or not."

"You have an hour to settle it, then it's back to work," Cragen asserted. "Sixty minutes. Make the most of it -- and no more fighting in my precinct!"


End file.
